It is common practice for formulators of detergent compositions to include bleaching agents such as hydrogen peroxide or sources thereof in such compositions for their bleaching effect. Such bleaches are widely recognized for their ability to remove various stains and soils from fabrics. It is also common practice to include a chelant in such detergent compositions. Chelants act to scavenge certain metal ions commonly found in wash water. Since the presence of these metal ions can inhibit the performance of many detergent additives, the addition of a chelant to a detergent composition acts to enhance the performance of the other detergent additives. Unfortunately, hydrogen peroxide has a tendency to oxidize chelants when both the chelant and source of hydrogen peroxide are formulated in a detergent formulation, especially liquid formulations, rendering the chelant much less effective in the wash.
It has now been determined that certain selected chelants provide unexpectedly effective product performance in the wash. The preferred chelants also have greatly increased chemical stability within an aqueous detergent composition. Without being limited by theory, it is believed that the chelants remain substantially undissolved in the acidic detergent composition, thereby inhibiting the oxidation of the chelant by hydrogen peroxide. Importantly, it is believed that these chelants become highly water soluble at typical alkaline wash pH's (from about 7 to abut 10.5) and thus function very effectively in use.
When formulated as described herein, aqueous detergent compositions are provided using the selected chelants to enhance product performance with excellent results. Advantages of these embodiments include excellent performance at typical wash pH's, e.g., about 7-10.